Pittsburgh Approves $200K To Study Violence: Jeremy Boren from the Tribune-Review reports that Pittsburgh City Council approved legislation Tuesday to spend $200,000 on an anti-violence program intended to begin reducing the number of homicides within six months. The money will come from this year's police budget and will be used to pay for a detailed crime and gang activity analysis by University of Pittsburgh School of Social Work researchers.

Court Awards $10 Million To Family Of McHenry County Murder Victim: According to an article by Charles Keeshan from the Chicago Daily Herald, the family of an 83-year-old McHenry County woman murdered in her home on Mother's Day 2006 won a $10 million judgment today from the estate of the man police say killed her. The murder suspect, Jose Manuel Albada-Grijaldo, was shot and killed by police during a confrontation that occurred after he led police on a 15 mile chase in the victim's car. McHenry County Judge Michael Feetterer awarded the damages after representatives of Albada-Grijaldo repeatedly failed to appear in court to challenge the lawsuit which sought damages for his murder of Verna Corcoran during a home invasion and robbery.

Man Sentenced for Holding a Nigerian Teenage Girl in Involuntary Servitude: An article from the MarketWatch reports that George Udeozor, formerly of Montgomery County, Maryland, was sentenced for holding a 14-year-old Nigerian girl in involuntary servitude. U.S. District Judge Peter J. Messitte sentenced Udeozor to 97 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release. Udeozor was also ordered to pay $110,249.60 in restitution to the victim. The victim cooked, cleaned the home, did laundry and took care of the Udeozor children. During that time, the victim was physically abused.

Not too Fat for Execution: The Ohio Supreme Court has rejected murderer Richard Cooey's claim that he is too fat for lethal injection. An AP story reports that Cooey is scheduled to be executioned next Tuesday, for killing two college co-eds in 1986. Previous posts here and here provide more information on Cooey's case.